


I want you (If you can't see it, you're blind)

by orphan_account



Series: I want you (claws, cuddles, and all) [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Merlin is still a warlock, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-01
Updated: 2012-11-01
Packaged: 2017-11-17 13:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’ve reached the Supernatural Consulting Agency, this is Merlin Emrys speaking, how may I help you?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	I want you (If you can't see it, you're blind)

**Author's Note:**

> This follows several weeks after _I want you to want me_. It’s a modern werewolf AU, wherein Merlin is still just a warlock. If, you know, there’s ever anything “just” about Merlin.

“You’ve reached the Supernatural Consulting Agency, this is Merlin Emrys speaking, how may I help you?” he asked, holding his phone tightly between his shoulder and his ear as he pulled on his socks and shoes. He never knew when a client called if it would be something he handled over the phone, or when he needed to fly out the door. Regardless, he hated answering a call without shoes.  
  
The task of tying his laces was taken from him, an already-shod Arthur sliding down to sit before him and free his fingers. Merlin shot him a grateful but confused look, and brought one hand up to hold the phone more securely. Over the last few weeks, he had grown accustomed to the others touching him whenever they wished. Now that they knew he would welcome it, they treated him to the same casual contact they shared with everyone in the pack, brushing their shoulders together whenever they passed in the hall, leaning against each other on the couch, sprawling together on the living room floor, tackling each other when spirits were high. Arthur shared all of these signs of affection as well, but his had taken on a more proprietary feeling that Merlin didn’t think had anything to do with Arthur’s status as the alpha.  
  
He’d certainly never tied Elena’s shoes. Though that could have been because alpha or not, Gwaine would have objected pretty strongly to Arthur doing something that, while it seemed innocuous, was actually weirdly intimate.  
  
At least, it felt pretty intimate right now, the way Arthur kept glancing up from where he leaned over Merlin’s trainers, his tropical ocean blue eyes slightly hidden by golden eyelashes. Merlin blinked at him and tried to focus on the voice coming from his phone’s speaker. _”... and we just don’t know what it_ wants _from us, you know?”_  
  
“Right, well, why don’t you give me your address, and I’ll come right over, see if we can’t sort this out?” He pulled out the little notebook he kept in his trousers, along with a tiny pen. Ever since he had seen Merlin use it for the first time, Arthur had enjoyed teasing him about the blue floral pattern, and the way such a small utensil was swallowed by his long fingers.  
  
Actually, he could see Arthur’s lips curling up at the corners right now. Merlin didn’t care. It had been a gift from his mum, since he continually forgot to bring the trench coat with the pockets deep enough for a normal-sized pen, and he liked the consistency of the ink, the way it looked and felt as the tip of the pen ran over paper.  
  
After jotting down the address, and the name of the client, he capped his mum’s pen and closed his notebook, putting them back in his front right pocket. “Okay, then, Ms. Scheffer. I will see you in about fifteen minutes.”  
  
 _”Oh, thank you, Mr. Emrys. Shelly and I have tried everything, and nothing has worked.”_  
  
“Don’t worry about a thing, ma’am. We’ll get this sorted.” He listened to the young woman’s expressions of gratitude for a few more moments, skirting the edge of embarrassment - honestly, aside from not telling the poor girl that she was crazy, he hadn’t done anything yet. Finally, the line went dead, and he hit the button to end it on his side, then pocketed his phone.  
  
“A ghost is haunting some poor girl’s dormitory?” Arthur looked torn between amusement and concern. It wasn’t often that Merlin had to deal with ghosts - and the times that he did, they were never friendly. He’d felt rather betrayed by _Casper_ when he first started his little business. As a little boy, he’d wanted to become friends with a ghost.  
  
Still, if he moped over every lie he and countless other children had been fed about the supernatural world, he would never be able to get out of his bed in the mornings.  
  
Shrugging calmly, Merlin agreed, “That’s what it sounds like.”  
  
Arthur’s lips tightened before he said, “I should come with you.”  
  
“What? No, Arthur, I’ll be _fine_. It isn’t your job to follow me around all the time.” That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say.  
  
“Actually,” Arthur told him, now frowning openly, “I think you’ll find that it _is_ my job to look after you, and anyone else in this pack.”  
  
“Well, then, maybe you should be worrying about Elyan and Gwaine. They’re the ones who can’t stay out of trouble,” Merlin suggested as he rose to his feet. He appreciated that Arthur cared, but the excessive worrying on his behalf left him feeling as constricted as the previous dearth of physical contact had left him unmoored. Why was it so hard to find the right balance? It was like Arthur had never learned the concept of moderation, or if he had, the lesson had been summarily rejected.  
  
Standing as well, and looking far more graceful in the act, Arthur negated his proposal. “Percival and Elena worry about them enough already, don’t you think?”  
  
“Right. Then what about Leon? He doesn’t have anyone monitoring his every breath.”  
  
Unimpressed, Arthur raised his eyebrows and told him, “Leon can look after himself. If he ever decides otherwise, I’m sure he will be able to find someone suitable.”  
  
“Oh, but I can’t?”  
  
“ _Mer_ lin,” Arthur growled, his patience worn all to tatters, “can’t you just, for once, let someone take care of you, rather than the other way around?”  
  
He glanced down at his watch - one of the only things his mum had left of his dad, the leather band supple and well-worn, the face slightly scratched from an unfortunate incident with a ghoul - and then sighed. He’d wanted to be on his way five minutes ago. “Fine, but keep your claws to yourself.”  
  
Arthur tried to appear innocent, and Merlin shook his head. He gave the alpha two minutes around the ghost before fangs became involved.  
  
He shouldn’t have been so generous. Within seconds of Ms. Scheffer opening the door, Merlin found himself in yet another situation requiring a memory spell, questioning whether saving Arthur and then joining his pack was the best or worst thing that had ever happened in his life.


End file.
